


Requiem for a G-Man

by therune



Category: DCU - Comicverse
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-15
Updated: 2012-04-15
Packaged: 2017-11-03 17:35:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/384076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/therune/pseuds/therune
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>His FBI colleagues clear out James' office after his death</p>
            </blockquote>





	Requiem for a G-Man

The news of James Jesse´s death hadn’t taken long to reach the bureau. His colleagues were torn - they had liked Jesse, had known him as a friendly, polite and efficient worker with a colorful past, but on the other hand... he had died as a fugitive, hunted for murder. The "I knew it"s and the "Once a criminal, always a criminal"s sounded through the hallways.  
But he hadn´t been that important, he wasn´t worth talking about for too long.  
The KCPD had sent for his things, something about a last will and testament. The bureau would gladly get rid of anything that had once belonged to Jesse, and had given orders to clear Jesse´s office as soon as possible.

Agent Kilgour had been charged with this task.  
She arrived with a big cardboard box and started packing.  
All paperwork was of course strictly confidential and would never leave the bureau. All his personal belongings went into the box labeled "fragile".  
The spare suit with the orange tie - into the box.  
The Garfield coffee mug - into the box.  
The lava-lamp - into the box.  
The slinky - into the box.  
The hockey stick, pogo stick and the umbrella - would have to be shipped later.  
That hideous neon-green yoyo - into the box.  
The photograph from Hernandez´ last birthday and their little office party (five agents with silly hats, Hernandez himself with an oversized cupcake that sported a candle and a pink ribbon) - she paused.  
Usually, Jesse´s smile had been small, polite and harmless.  
In this photograph, he had actually laughed. It suited him.

"He wasn´t a bad guy," a voice from the hallway said. Agent Hernandez entered the office and closed the door.  
"You liked him, didn´t you?" Kilgour asked and put the photograph away.  
"He was smart, resourceful, he saved our asses often enough, Kilgour, course I miss him," Hernandez said, his fingers trailing over an old Wanted poster on the wall.  
"I can´t believe he´s gone."  
"I can´t believe what he did," Kilgour responded and emptied a drawer into the box.  
"Come on, this is Jesse we´re talking about. He would never have been capable of murder."  
"Hernandez, think about it: he turned on the Bureau, he went back to being a criminal, went back to his associates. He rigs security, steals, vandalizes, and then the Flash dies. He was just a kid, for God´s sake. Jesse is at least an accessory to murder, if not worse. You can´t let your personal feelings cloud your judgment."  
"I know, Kilgour," he said, "first rule of the job. If this was just any criminal, a random file... I wouldn´t hesitate for a second."  
He watched as she stashed away everything that had remained of Agent James Jesse into a box.  
"You know he almost failed the last marksmanship test?" Kilgour spoke up as she held a miniature dartboard in her hands. "He was rubbish with guns, never fired a single shot in his career here. He never left an agent behind, he never let us down."  
Hernandez smiled. "So you did like him, too."  
"Of course, Peter, that´s what makes it so hard. He always did his job. Always was right. And now this? A murderer...and dead."  
The office was almost empty, nearly every trace that had ever belonged to a man named James Jesse gone.  
Hernandez picked up the last photograph - Jesse and his stuntman buddy the Blue Devil, both smiling, the Devil´s hand on Jesse´s shoulder - and he handed it over to Kilgour.  
Both miscalculated and the photograph dropped to the ground, the glass frame shattering.  
If either of them had been superstitious...

Hernandez bent down to pick up the photograph. He discovered something - there was another photograph, hidden behind the first one, tucked into the back of the frame.  
Curious, he unfolded it and looked at it for a long, long second.  
Then he gave it to Kilgour.  
The photograph was old, its edges worn and the colors had slowly begun to seep from the picture. It had obviously been looked at very often. Jesse had held it in his hands many times, smoothing the crinkled edges, trying to straighten that one dogged ear, fingers fondly trailing over familiar faces.  
It showed a group of people in bright, garish costumes - the Rogues. Both agents recognized the colorful designs.  
Their masks were gone though and they seemed happy, very much unlike all the typical mugshots and Wanted-posters which sported their faces.  
The Top had his arms around a beautiful girl who would become the Golden Glider.  
Captain Boomerang had raised a beer can in a mock salute, his other broad hand on the shoulder of the Weather Wizard. The Wizard himself had another man - the Mirror Master - in a playful headlock. The Rainbow Raider had struck a pose, reminiscent of an ancient statue, looking dignifed and proud...which was only ruined by his enormous grin and the bunny ears Captain Cold had made behind his head. Heat Wave in turn had pulled a face, aimed at the oblivious Captain. On his left side, there was Jesse.  
He had stolen the Piper´s hat and wore it lopsidedly on his own head. The photograph had been taken at the exact moment Piper had blinked; his eyes were closed, but his grin reached almost from one ear to the next. Jesse wore the biggest smile they had ever seen on him, ruffling the Piper´s hair with one hand and holding the trigger for the camera in the other.  
He was looking more vibrant, more bright and more alive than they had ever seen him.  
Hernandez and Kilgour remembered the polite, efficient Agent Jesse and now saw the Trickster surrounded by his friends.  
Their eyes met.  
They had never known Jesse as well as they had thought.

Unheard by anyone, laughter that had been laughed years ago rose from the photograph, old memories and happiness following.  
Both agents felt goosebumps rise on their skin as ghostly laughter of the past that no one would ever hear rang through the air.  
"No, I had my eyes closed! Take another one!"  
"Come on, everyone has dozens of photos with their eyes closed, just think back to high school and how horribly we looked back then."  
"Mark, come on, let me go...go on, take...your...arms...hey, no fair, Boomer don´t you help him!"  
"What the...Mick! Cut it out!"  
"Lisa and Roscoe, sitting in a tree - ouch! What was that for?"  
"I love you all, you guys."  
"That´s it, no more beer for you."


End file.
